The Battle of the Atlantic was Canada’s longest military engagement of the Second World War, lasting from September 1939 to May 1945. This battle was bravely fought by the men and women of the Canadian Merchant Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force. More than 4,600 courageous service men and women lost their lives at sea.
Royal Navy too……………
The name “Battle of the Atlantic” was coined by Winston Churchill in February 1941.[9] It has been called the “longest, largest and most complex” naval battle in history.[10] The campaign started immediately after the European war began, during the so-called “Phoney War“, and lasted six years, until the German Surrender in May 1945. It involved thousands of ships in more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters, in a theatre covering millions of square miles of ocean. The situation changed constantly, with one side or the other gaining advantage, as participating countries surrendered, joined and even changed sides in the war, and as new weapons, tactics, counter-measures and equipment were developed by both sides. The Allies gradually gained the upper hand, overcoming German surface raiders by the end of 1942 and defeating the U-boats by mid-1943, though losses due to U-boats continued until war’s end.
The Germans failed to stop the flow of strategic supplies to Britain. This failure resulted in the build-up of troops and supplies needed for the D-Day landings. The defeat of the U-boat was a necessary precursor for accumulation of Allied troops and supplies to ensure Germany’s defeat.
Victory was achieved at a huge cost: between 1939 and 1945, 3,500 Allied merchant ships (totalling 14.5 million gross tons) and 175 Allied warships were sunk and some 72,200 Allied naval and merchant seamen lost their lives.[1] The Germans lost 783 U-boats and approximately 30,000 sailors killed, three-quarters of Germany’s 40,000-man U-boat fleet.[2]
https://youtu.be/cXXC68aNyPs
Congrats to the US Marine Corps’ 245 anniversary – Nov 10th
Check out my books by clicking on the links at the top of the page. Kurofune in particular is a historical work of fiction that centers on the Pacific War.
One of many reviews of Monk’s Orchard:
“I have just finished reading this novel by John Morrison. Like his other books, this was an impressive and enjoyable read.In this book, the author chooses a theme so different from his first novel. This alone is impressive ;that he can range to themes so vastly different. His character development is again strong and the great amount of historical research that he has done is evident. Using a narrator to span the generations is an interesting and effective literary device. Let us hope that Mr.Morrison has more equally interesting novels in store for us.”
Continuing with remembrance. For our American Friends:
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After just two hours of bombing more than 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships* had either been sunk or damaged, and more than 188 U.S. aircraft destroyed.
The attack at Pearl Harbor so outraged Americans that the U.S. abandoned its policy of isolationism and declared war on Japan the following day — officially bringing the United States into World War II.
You have to click a few times to get this going.
The Naval Hymn.
Check out my books by clicking on the links at the top of the page. Kurofune in particular is a historical work of fiction that centers on the Pacific War.
One review of Monk’s Orchard:
“I have just finished reading this novel by John Morrison. Like his other books, this was an impressive and enjoyable read.In this book, the author chooses a theme so different from his first novel. This alone is impressive ;that he can range to themes so vastly different. His character development is again strong and the great amount of historical research that he has done is evident. Using a narrator to span the generations is an interesting and effective literary device. Let us hope that Mr.Morrison has more equally interesting novels in store for us.”
The Pacific War: For this page, primarily Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan (Wikipedia)
Guadalcanal
The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamedOperation Watchtower was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms Allied victory in the Pacific theater. Along with the Battle of Midway, it has been called a turning point in the war against Japan.[10] The Japanese had reached the peak of their conquests in the Pacific. The victories at Milne Bay, Buna-Gona, and Guadalcanal marked the Allied transition from defensive operations to the strategic initiative in the theater, leading to offensive operations such as the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that eventually resulted in Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II
Tarawa: The Front Door to the Japanese mainland:
The Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that was fought on 20–23 November 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts.[3] Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.[4]
The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing.[5] Previous landings had met little or no initial resistance,[6][N 1] but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. had suffered similar casualties throughout the duration of other previous campaigns, for example over the six months of the Guadalcanal Campaign, but the losses on Tarawa were incurred within the space of 76 hours.
There were other: Iwo Jima, Okinawa (Ryukus) but I thought these three lesser known battles would represent the US Military sacrifices during the Pacific War.
Of course the Marines could go nowhere without the US Navy:
Finally, one song I truly love – even if I am a Canadian.
Thanks!
Check out my books by clicking on the links at the top of the page. Monk’s Orchard is my latest. Here is just one review:
“I have just finished reading this novel by John Morrison. Like his other books, this was an impressive and enjoyable read.In this book, the author chooses a theme so different from his first novel. This alone is impressive ;that he can range to themes so vastly different. His character development is again strong and the great amount of historical research that he has done is evident. Using a narrator to span the generations is an interesting and effective literary device. Let us hope that Mr.Morrison has more equally interesting novels in store for us.”
You may have heard of the Great Escape. You may have seen the 1963 Hollywood movie starring Steve McQueen as a United States Air Force officer named Virgil Hilts – the “Cooler King”. And if you’ve seen the movie, you may think that the story is a British and American story.
But it’s not. It’s a British and Canadian story. There were no Americans in the North Compound at Stalag Luft III near Sagan (now Zagan), Poland, when the mass breakout occurred. Rather, most of the officers in the compound were members of the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). Others hailed from nations such as Greece, Norway, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium and France.
The idea to build tunnels to break out of Stalag Luft III was conceived by RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell in the spring of 1943. One of his most important co-conspirators was RCAF Flying Officer Wally Floody from Chatham, Ontario, who has become known as the architect of the Great Escape.
Flying Officer Floody worked in the mining industry at Kirkland Lake, Ontario, which gave him the expertise he needed in the prison camp to survey, design and engineer the tunnels. According to his obituary, his role in the project was so highly valued that the camp’s leaders forbade him to join an earlier escape attempt with a delousing party.
“We need you for the tunnels,” he was told.
Shortly before the breakout, he was moved to a nearby camp – Beria – along with several other key figures on the escape committee. The German guards had become suspicious, but they didn’t find “Harry”. Flight Lieutenant Floody thus survived the war; he gave evidence at the Nuremberg Trials, founded the Royal Canadian Air Force Prisoners of War Association and later became an advisor on the film set of “The Great Escape”. King George VI also made him an officer of the Order of the British Empire for his “courage and devotion to duty”.
THE ESCAPERS
Home Run
Sergeant Per Bergsland, RAF (Norwegian)
Second Lieutenant Jens Müller, RAF (Norwegian)
Flight Lieutenant Bram “Bob” van der Stok, RAF (Dutch)
Executed
Flying Officer Henry “Hank” Birkland, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Edward Gordon Brettell, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Leslie George “Johnny” Bull, RAF
Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Michael James Casey, RAF
Squadron Leader James Catanach, RAAF
Flight Lieutenant Arnold George Christensen, RNZAF
Flying Officer Dennis Herbert Cochran, RAF
Squadron Leader Ian Kingston Pembroke Cross, RAF
Sergeant Haldor Espelid, Royal Norwegian Air Force
Flight Lieutenant Brian Herbert Evans, RAF
Lieutenant Nils Fuglesang, Royal Norwegian Air Force
Lieutenant Johannes Gouws, SAAF
Flight Lieutenant William Jack Grisman, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Alistair Donald Mackintosh Gunn, RAF
Warrant Officer Albert Horace Hake, RAAF
Flight Lieutenant Charles Piers Hall, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Anthony Ross Henzell Hayter, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Edgar Spottiswoode Humphreys, RAF
Flying Officer Gordon Arthur Kidder, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Reginald “Rusty” Kierath RAAF
Flight Lieutenant Antoni Kiewnarski, RAF (Polish)
Squadron Leader Thomas Gresham Kirby-Green, RAF
Flying Officer Wlodzimierz A Kolanowski, PAF (Polish)
Flying Officer Stanislaw Z. “Danny” Krol, RAF (Polish)
Flight Lieutenant Patrick Wilson Langford, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Barker Leigh, RAF
Flight Lieutenant James Leslie Robert “Cookie” Long, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Romas “René” Marcinkus, RAF
Lieutenant Clement Aldwyn Neville McGarr, SAAF
Flight Lieutenant George Edward McGill, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Harold John Milford, RAF
Flying Officer Jerzy T. Mondschein, RAF (Polish)
Flying Officer Kazimierz Pawluk, RAF (Polish)
Flying Officer Porokoru Patapu “Johnny” Pohe, RNZAF
Pilot Officer Sotiris “Nick” Skanzikas, Royal Hellenic Air Force (Greek)
Lieutenant Rupert J. Stevens, SAAF
Flying Officer Robert Campbell Stewart, RAF
Flying Officer John Gifford Stower, RAF
Flying Officer Denys Oliver Street, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Cyril Douglas Swain, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Henri Albert Picard, RAF (Belgian)
Lieutenant Bernard W. M. Scheidhauer, Free French Air Force
Flying Officer Pawel “Peter” Tobolski, Polish Air Force (Polish)
Flight Lieutenant Arnost “Wally” Valenta, RAF (Czechoslovakian)
Flight Lieutenant Gilbert William “Tim” Walenn, RAF
Flight Lieutenant James Chrystall Wernham, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant George William Wiley, RCAF
Squadron Leader John Edwin Ashley Williams, RAAF
Flight Lieutenant John Francis Williams, RAF
Returned to Stalag Luft III
Flight Lieutenant R. Anthony Bethell, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Bill Cameron, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Richard S. A. “Dick” Churchill, RAF
Wing Commander Harry Melville Arbuthnot “Wings” Day, RAF
Major Johnnie Dodge, British Army
Flight Lieutenant Sydney Dowse, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Bedrich “Freddie” Dvorak, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Bernard “Pop” Green, RAF
Pilot Officer Bertram “Jimmy” James, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Roy B. Langlois RAF
Flight Lieutenant H. C. “Johnny” Marshall, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Alistair T. McDonald, RAF
Lieutenant Alastair D. Neely, Royal Navy
Flight Lieutenant T.R. Nelson, RAF
Flight Lieutenant A. Keith Ogilvie, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Desmond Lancelot Plunkett, RAF
Lieutenant Douglas A. Poynter, Royal Navy
Pilot Officer Paul G. Royle, RAF
Flight Lieutenant Michael Shand, RAF (the last to emerge from “Harry”)
Flight Lieutenant Alfred B. Thompson, RCAF
Flight Lieutenant Ivo P. Tonder, RAF
Squadron Leader Leonard Henry Trent, RNZAF
Flight Lieutenant Raymond L. N. van Wymeersch, RAF (French)
With files from Sara Keddy, editor of The Aurora newspaper, 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia. Recommended reading: The Great Escape: A Canadian Story by Ted Barris
Listen to his message of peace and love and tolerance.
It may be Trudeau’s but this is not my Canada.
The oldest human fossils outside Africa, a partial upper jaw bone and several teeth, were found in Misliya Cave in Israel and may be almost 200,000 years old
And here I thought they were human fossilized frozen turds found in the far north.
Just what we need in this Covid 19 universe. The Canadian government is selling $10,000 worth of nutcrackers. See pic above.
“Balls said the Queen, if I had two I’d be King.”
Well, there ya go then.
Toronto Mayor goes the way of the dodo bird. Restaurants may re-open but only if patrons wear their useless one layer masks in between bites. Toronto follows California lead here.
National health authorities and WHO finally admit normal masks do not work because of the aerosol nature on the virus. Finally admit that only masks with 3 layers and a filter might work. Finally admit that masks do not stop the spread of the virus. Cloth cannot stop an aerosol.
No matter as the sheep play on: Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Liberals propose new green tax to meet carbon target. “It’s very important to have a plan,” said Wilkinson, Canada’s Environment Minister when talking about meeting or exceeding Canada’s emission targets: “We have to have a plan, and we do have one.” It’s called…ta da:
“The New Canadian Green Tax Plan”
Ah the Liberals mantra: “We giveth with our right hand but screw you with our left.”
Quite profound if you ask me.
Demented Joe, the USA’s next President, finally admits that these are riots and not peaceful protests.
In spite of the Democratic victory for the white house, the socialist beat goes on in Portland, and in Maryland / Baltimore:
Despite the massive challenges facing Baltimore and its terrible track record on everything from violent crime to official corruption, the voters dutifully sent the same cast of liberal, Democratic characters back to power yet again. Oh, a few of the names were different, but what they’re bringing to these offices hasn’t changed a bit. And that includes two high-profile politicos who were recently found to have “neglected” to pay tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and have had IRS liens placed on their property. (Baltimore Sun).
It is the same here in Canada. We have probably the most corrupt government in our relatively short history, yet will keep getting elected as the beat goes on.
The more things change the more many things remain the same. Don’t ya think?
SJ………..Out
And yes I was wrong as I called for a Trump win…………bigly………..Oh well. I welcome a Harris presidency.
The name “Battle of the Atlantic” was coined by Winston Churchill in February 1941.[9] It has been called the “longest, largest and most complex” naval battle in history.[10] The campaign started immediately after the European war began, during the so-called “Phoney War“, and lasted six years, until the German Surrender in May 1945. It involved thousands of ships in more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters, in a theatre covering millions of square miles of ocean. The situation changed constantly, with one side or the other gaining advantage, as participating countries surrendered, joined and even changed sides in the war, and as new weapons, tactics, counter-measures and equipment were developed by both sides. The Allies gradually gained the upper hand, overcoming German surface raiders by the end of 1942 and defeating the U-boats by mid-1943, though losses due to U-boats continued until war’s end.
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the 
